The Board of Directors of the International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges, and Universities (IAMSCU) presented two of its international awards to renowned leaders in Methodist education: Dr. James Hildreth, President of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN (USA), received the Almir de Souza Maia Award for Excellence in International Scholarship; Dr. Socorro de Anda, Past President of Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, TX (USA), received the James T. Laney Global Ethical Leadership Award.
The Honorees
Dr. Hildreth is being honored for his internationally recognized research in immunology, which gained international visibility during the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, when he contributed significantly to limit the spread of the virus and care for the people affected. His work in this area led to his election to the Institute of Medicine, part of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Hildreth has been called a “scientific hero” in a National Institutes of Health publication. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his work is truly making a difference in efforts to provide healthcare to impoverished and discriminated communities, especially African Americans as well as in public health education, vaccine development, and vaccine equity. In recognition for this work, Dr. Hildreth was invited to join President Biden’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.
Dr. de Anda is being honored for her exemplary leadership over many years of the Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, Texas. For almost four decades, she led a remarkable ministry, serving predominantly underprivileged children, many from Mexico, who had to cross the border between Mexico and the United States on a daily basis to pursue their education. Dr. de Anda’s educational ministry has changed significantly the lives of countless students under her care. In the words of the IAMSCU Board of Directors, she genuinely exemplifies the intent of the award, which is “to recognize noteworthy accomplishment as well as faithful, dedicated, and devoted ethical service.”
The Awards
The Almir de Souza Maia Award for Excellence in International Scholarship was established in 2016 in memory of Professor Maia and to honor scholars and professionals with a distinguished career and demonstrated outstanding contributions to Methodist education and other areas of academic endeavor promoted at IAASCU member institutions. It honors the scholarly work of Professor Maia, a beloved and respected member of IAMSCU, having been instrumental in its founding and providing leadership, advice, and vision as it grew, and is intended to promote research, teaching, and administrative activities with an international component following Professor Maia’s outstanding example, which is indeed worthy of emulation. His landmark history of IAMSCU is among his many publications which spanned academic disciplines and demonstrated his concern for social justice.
The James T. Laney Global Ethical Leadership Award is a special award established in 2019 “to recognize individuals for truly outstanding institutional leadership grounded in moral courage and integrity and formed by the highest ethical standards and commitment to them.” In was established to honor the outstanding legacy and continuing influence of James T. Laney, who served as Dean of Candler School of Theology, President of Emory University, US Ambassador to South Korea, and many other positions in which he exercised ethical leadership, building bridges among countries, leading educational institutions, and forming a new generation of leaders with the highest ethical standards and a truly international approach.
The awards were officially announced on February 1, during the meeting of the IAMSCU Board of Directors. The honorees will receive the award and be recognized during the IAMSCU General Assembly, which will be in session during the IAMSCU international conference scheduled for April 25-May 2, 2023 at Kingswood School, England. In the meantime, IAMSCU will publicize the biographies of the awardees and prepare the award ceremony.